College

Big East signs 7-year, $126 million TV contract with ESPN BY ED DAIGNEAULTRepublican-American

The Big East and ESPN put the wraps on a long-awaited television deal, announcing an agreement Tuesday that ESPN reported covers seven years and pays the league $126 million. It is a steep drop from the $1.17 billion, nine-year ESPN deal the league rejected two years ago but the Big East is also a shambles of what it was then.

The deal helps solidify the Big East — which will surrender that name to the seven schools that are leaving on July 1 — going forward and keeps a mostly even financial playing field for UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida, the three schools left behind in the expansion madness.

The league does not release financial details and has never made public the way it distributes revenue but UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida along with other members of the new league — are expected to receive about $1.8 million annually under the new deal. Football playing members received about $3.12 million annually under the old deal.

The three schools left behind are also, according to sources, going to take in between $15 million and $20 million apiece under a separation agreement reached with school keeping the Big East name. Included in the nearly $100 million the league will distribute according to the separation agreement are exit fees from departing members and payouts for NCAA Tournament units, among other things.

"We grew up with ESPN, ESPN grew up with us," Big East commissioner Mike Aresco said on a conference call. "This agreement shows the confidence ESPN has in us and what we can do going forward. This agreement is an important building block in that.

"We're in a good place. We're really excited about moving forward."

Ninety percent of the league's football games will be carried on either ABC or ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. The minimum number of telecasts on those outlets is higher than the current football deal, which expires at the end of the 2013 season. ESPN will carry the league championship game, if and when the league expands to 12 teams. Aresco wants to have that done by 2015, which means it would have to add another school. Tulsa has been mentioned as the most likely candidate to get the league to 12 teams by 2015 but Aresco would not mention schools he is targeting.

More than 63 percent of men's basketball games will be carried on national broadcast or national cable. The tournament will be carried on national television, with the title game on either ABC or ESPN. In women's basketball, 18 games will be carried nationally and 60 either regionally, nationally or on ESPN3. The women's tournament title game will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.

While the money generated isn't what was hoped, the exposure for the league actually increases a bit.

"We always wanted to keep it," said Burke Magnus, ESPN's vice president of college sports programming. "We were thrilled with the outcome. We always had our eye on the ball. The goal was to ultimately keep the content. ... We share the optimism that in the future these guys will be something special."

Aresco said the league plans to have a new name by late April or early May. The league has issued a request for proposals for cities wanting to host the men's and women's basketball tournaments.

Whether the tournaments remain stationary or rotate is something the league has yet to decide, Aresco said.

For the 2013-14 school year, the league will consist of UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Rutgers, Louisville, Temple, Memphis, Houston, Southern Methodist and Central Florida. Louisville and Rutgers depart in 2014 to be replaced by Tulane and East Carolina. Right now, East Carolina is slated to join in football only but Aresco said it is likely the Pirates will be an all-sports member. Navy joins in football only in 2015.

If the league gets to 12 football schools, and Aresco fully intends to get there, he said a conference championship game would be played at an on-campus site. Aresco said he also expects some league members to keep basketball relationships with some of the new Big East members.

Aresco said he also expects to announce a national broadcast basketball deal next week. The league has had a long relationship with CBS and that is reportedly going to continue.

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